BMTC commences with third trial streak for hiring 90 e-buses

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) commenced another trial run of electric buses on Thursday, which has been prolonged enough with the objective of instituting the eco-friendly vehicles for transport.

BMTC has made a third attempt for executing trial run of the e-buses, which has been delayed, tracing back to its initiation in 2014.

The trail run will be about hiring 90 buses, which will be backed by 5 companies and the Bangalore Smart City Project. There are talks about leasing another 300 buses, with the Central Government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) by the end of 2020.

The buses examined on Thursday had 12 metre long air-conditioners and were provided by Olectra Greentech Limited, the leading bidder over the previous tenders. The buses coming with seating capacity of 34+1 passengers and can travel for a distance of 200 – 250 kilometre over a single charging. As per the BMTC sources, two more bidders, JBM and Veera Vahana will be sending their buses in a week’s time.

The source stated, “We have identified eight routes having a mix of urban and suburban environment within the city to test the buses. The trial process is crucial to measure the capacity of the vehicle in comparison to the needs of the BMTC.”

The e-buses catered by Olectra have good amenities and provisions which support the entry of wheel-chair which will be convenient for senior citizens and differently abled. The BMTC further revealed about the facility of USB charger, emergency alarm, stop-buttons, first aid-kits and emergency exits.

Laxman Savadi, Transport Minister stated the current trial-run will be supported by Bengaluru-origin companies and measures are taken for instituting electric buses, each with an estimated cost of Rs. 88.33 lakh, from which the Centre will fund Rs. 55 lakh under the next phase of FAME scheme.